The women's international tennis tournament gets underway Feb. 10-11 at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville. The weekend's tennis action pits the Fed Cup defending-champion U.S. team, featuring all-time tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams, against the Netherlands.

The United States Tennis Association announced Asheville as a Fed Cup venue in November, just days after the U.S. team defeated Belarus to win its first title since 2000. Tickets went on sale in November and event sold out late last month, shortly after the Williams sisters signed on to participate.

It is expected to generate more than $3.5 million in economic impact for the city, the USTA said last week.

Here are a few things to know before this week's tennis action:

What is the Fed Cup?

(Photo: The Associated Press)

The Fed Cup dubs itself the "The World Cup of Tennis." Formerly known as The Federation Cup, it is the largest annual women's international team sports competition, similar to the Davis Cup for men's tennis.

The Fed Cup, the Davis Cup and the mixed-team Hopman Cup are organized by the London-based International Tennis Federation, which governs the sport.

This weekend's action between the defending-champion U.S. team and the Netherlands kicks off the nearly yearlong Fed Cup tournament as part of World Group I. Besides Asheville, other World Group I play this weekend includes Belarus and Germany in Minsk, Belarus; Czech Republic and Switzerland in Prague in the Czech Republic; and Belgium and France in La Roche-sur-Yon, France.

Nobody has more Fed Cup titles than the U.S. The team collectively has won 18 titles including the most recent in 2017, under Captain Kathy Rinaldi. It was the U.S.'s first title in the tournament since 2000.

Behind the U.S. is the Czech Republic with 10 Fed Cup titles. The country was a three-time defending Fed Cup champion before being knocked out by the U.S. last year in the semifinals in Tampa.

Other top title winners include Australia (7), Spain (5) as well as Russia and Italy (4).

The Williams sisters are in

Venus and Serena Williams share a laugh after the trophy presentation following Serena's victory in the Australian Open final.(Photo: Paul Crock, AFP/Getty Images)

Nobody has ruled women's tennis quite like Serena and Venus Williams, especially since the sisters turned pro in the mid-1990s. This week, they'll both be in Asheville to compete in the Fed Cup.

The United States Tennis Association announced last month that the Williams sisters would be joining the U.S. team this year.

It marks the return of Serena Williams, who took about a yearlong break from the sport to accommodate giving birth to her daughter in September and marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November. The 36-year-old Saginaw, Michigan, native has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles in her career, second all-time to Margaret Court.

Not to be outdone, Venus Williams, 37, comes to Asheville a seven-time singles Grand Slam champion, including a five-time winner at Wimbledon.

Both Venus and Serena Williams are four-time Olympic gold medalists, the most recent coming during the 2012 London Games. Venus also won a silver medal for mixed-doubles in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

The addition of Serena and Venus Williams to the U.S. Fed Cup team came as a shock to almost everyone, including Asheville Buncombe Sports Commission Executive Director Demp Bradford.

Bradford said in January the commission had been hoping for "maybe one" of the famed tennis duo to land in Asheville. To draw both, he said, was "tremendous."

Don't overlook CoCo Vandeweghe

(Photo: The Associated Press)

While her name might not yet carry the clout of Venus or Serena Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe was a key contributor to last year's U.S. Fed Cup title.

Vandeweghe, 26, rejoins the team, mere months removed from being a part of Rinaldi's 2017 squad that won it all against Belarus. She is a skilled singles player, currently ranked No. 17 in the world — the team's second-highest ranked player behind Venus Williams.

Vandeweghe has not won a Grand Slam singles title in her career, but reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open and Australian Open in 2017. Her role in last year's Fed Cup title was integral, winning two singles matches and teaming up with Shelby Rogers to put the U.S. team over the top for the first time in 17 years.

Also on the Fed Cup team coming to Asheville is 24-year-old Lauren Davis, currently the world's No. 62-ranked player. Davis also was a member of last year's title team.

Planning to attend? It will cost you.

The upcoming Fed Cup is sold out, but it won't set an attendance record at the U.S. Cellular Center, mainly because setup of the tennis court will take up a lot of floor space.(Photo: John Boyle/jboyle@citizen-times.com)

Trying to get a ticket to this year's Fed Cup in Asheville? Better bring your checkbook.

The event sold out Jan. 23 in the hours after the announcement of the Williams sisters joining the team. Even before that, Explore Asheville CEO Stephanie Pace Brown said last week tickets had been selling well with the expectation of a full house at Asheville's U.S. Cellular Center.

While the event technically is sold out, many tickets remain on the secondhand marketplace. As of Monday, Ticketmaster showed single-day resale tickets selling for between $280 and $1,500. It is a similar story on StubHub and SeatGeek, where single-day tickets are available for between $200 and $1,750 apiece.

In comparison, tickets for the next event at ExploreAsheville.com Arena, the third-annual Blue Ridge Rockaway featuring Umphrey's McGee, are available on Ticketmaster for between $32.50 and $72.

CLOSE

The appearance of tennis icons Serena and Venus Williams at the upcoming Fed Cup has a reader wondering if the venue will break attendance records.
John Boyle/jboyle@citizen-times.com

Can I watch if I don't have tickets?

Yes. The Tennis Channel will broadcast live both days in Asheville.

Coverage begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, its schedule shows. Other showings of the Fed Cup include 9 p.m. Saturday, 5 and 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Sunday.

What else is going on this week?

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Tennis great Kathy Rinaldi, a world champion and captain of the United States Fed Cup team, will defend the United States' 2017 Fed Cup title at the US Cellular Center in Asheville in February.(Photo: Angela Wilhelm/awilhelm@citizen-times.com)

It is a busy week of tennis, spanning far beyond the weekend's action. Among the scheduled events released by the USTA are:

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 8:30-11 a.m., U.S. Cellular Center Exhibition Hall: The USTA and USTA North Carolina will host about 300 Buncombe County students from area elementary schools. Participating students won an essay contest to take part in the clinic. Rinaldi will join the clinic at 10:30 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 9, noon, U.S. Cellular Center Stadium Court: Members of the U.S. and Netherlands teams will take part in the 2018 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Official Draw Ceremony, which determines player matchups for the weekend. The event is open to the public. Doors open at 11:45 a.m.

Where can I park?

Parking options are available for people planning to attend the Fed Cup this weekend in downtown Asheville.(Photo: City of Asheville)

The city of Asheville has made some adjustments to its parking and road setup to accommodate the Fed Cup. Asheville's four downtown parking garages — Biltmore Avenue, Wall Street, Rankin Avenue and the Civic Center Garage — are open for Fed Cup attendees.

Several surface parking lots will be closed or available by permit only. The Cherry Street gravel lot is closed to the public and available by permit only until 6 a.m. Feb 12.

Other lots available only by permit include:

One city-owned parking lot across the street from the U.S. Cellular Center.

Rankin Avenue parking lot behind the U.S. Cellular Center.

In addition, Hiawassee Street from Rankin Avenue to Flint Street and Flint Street from Haywood Road to Cherry Street will close from 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday for the Net Generation Kids’ Day.